Michelle wasn't crying.
Instead, she sat in stony silence on her bed in the bedroom of her childhood, staring off into space. Her eyes were red, but they were dry.
Meta stuck her head in the door and sighed at the sight before her. Michelle had barely moved from that position in the last three days.
"Michelle, honey, do you need anything."
Michelle shook her head.
"You haven't eaten in days. Why don't you let me fix you something?"
"I'm fine, Aunt Meta." Michelle said in a hoarse voice. "I just need to be alone."
Meta straightened her shoulders and walked boldly into the room."You've been alone for the past week. Now, I'm getting tired of this. I want to know what's going on, Michelle Bauer !"
"Michelle Santos!" Michelle cried out, whipping around to face her aunt.
Meta stepped back at the force of Michelle's anger, but was by her niece's side in a heartbeat when Michelle lowered her face into her hands, sobbing brokenly.
"Shhh...it's alright, sweetie. It's alright." Meta whispered,stroking Michelle's hair.
When the worst of Michelle's sobbing had ceased, Aunt Meta gently asked,"You weren't alone at the cabin, were you, Michelle?"
Michelle's tears began to flow anew as she shook her head."Danny...Danny found me. He was worried about me during the storm and you know how he-he always wants to protect me-" more sobs began rise up in her throat.
Aunt Meta clutched Michelle tighter."I don't suppose I have to ask what happened, do I?"
Michelle blushed and kept her eyes averted. "No."
Tears ran down her cheeks."We were together for 3 days, Aunt Meta." Michelle said in a faraway voice. "I told him I loved him and he said he loved me. It was the truth, I know it was. He-he couldn't have been lying. I would have seen it, I would have known...." she trailed off.
Meta continued to stroke Michelle's hair until she was ready to continue."It was the happiest time of my life."
"What happened, honey?" Meta prodded gently.
That coldness came back into Michelle's eyes and voice and her body stiffened. "I woke up one morning and he was gone."
"Just gone? No explanation?"
Michelle laughed harshly."No, there was an explanation."
She reached under her pillow and pulled out a crumpled and apparently tearstained piece of paper. Aunt Meta took it and felt her own heart break as she read the callous words. "Oh, Michelle." she breathed.
Michelle snatched the paper back."No! Don't you dare feel sorry for me, Aunt Meta! I got what I deserved, didn't I? He was right."
Aunt Meta grabbed Michelle's shoulders and gave her a firm shake."Don't you ever say that!I don't understand this, any of this, but I know one thing for certain. Something must have been very wrong for Danny to write this. You were right, Michelle, he loved you. I'm sure that, wherever he is, he still does. He wouldn't have written this."
"He did, Aunt Meta! I know his handwriting!" Michelle cried as she pulled herself from Meta's grip and crossed the room, her back to her aunt.
Aunt Meta sighed."No, Michelle, I don't mean he didn't write it. I mean he didn't want to. He must have been forced. Maybe something happened to him. Michelle, you can't just let this go!
You have to find him."
Michelle slowly shook her head, her tears completely gone."No." she said softly."Even if you're right, even if Danny didn't want to leave me, he obviously doesn't want me to come looking for him. He made that perfectly clear."
"So what are you going to do, Michelle?"
Michelle turned back to Meta, steely determination in her eyes. "I loved him, Aunt Meta. Maybe I always will. But he's gone now. And whether he wanted to leave or not, I'll never know. But I do know that wherever he is, he'll be watching me. And I'm going to make sure he suffers for what he's done to me."
Michelle crossed the room to where her bed, where a picture of her wedding sat.
In one quick movement, she slid off her wedding band and turned the photograph face down. "It's over now. I've cried my last tears over Daniel Santos."